Water Based Star Wars
by The King of Town
Summary: Ever seen Darth Vader as a pirate? It's Star Wars, nearly word for word, but on the ocean instead of in space! Try it.
1. Chapter 1

All the stuff in here is inspired by the Man in Plaid, George Lucas. That being said, enjoy.

**Chapter 1**

Everything about the _Tantive IV_, from its sleek hull design, to its eleven sails, to its cannon mounted on the stern, was made for fleeing. It was one of the fastest corvettes the Islands knew. The _Tantive_, like almost all other ships in the Rebel fleet, looked like it was frugally and hastily thrown together from pieces of old wood and metal, but still managed to maintain a look of elegance. The ship was moderately large, large enough for a minimum crew of about fifteen and room for a military task force of nearly fifty. The ship had no prow, but where it would have been was an enclosure shaped like a barrel turned on its side. This held the steering wheel, pilots, and navigators. The dull wooden deck and gray battered hull contrasted sharply with the intricately carved handrails, hull stripe, and three masts painted maroon. This gave the ship a striking look. At the top of the main mast flew a white flag showing the Rebel insignia, a rounded trident head.

All sails of the _Tantive IV_ were fully open because the ship was currently being chased. A Leviathan-class cruiser was gaining quickly on the Rebels. This ship was gargantuan, easily ten times the size of its prey. It was clearly intended to intimidate. The deck itself was almost as high as the tops of the tall masts on the ship it now chased. The gleaming white ship had no stains and was absolutely, perfectly clean and sterile-looking, as though this was as important as the dozens of cannon mounted on the perimeter of the deck and protruding from two levels of the interior. The cannon were situated directly adjacent to one another and even neatly stacked on one another in some places. Many of these cannons were firing now. One could see the rivets on the impenetrable steel on the hull, steel thick enough to deflect cannon fire like a helmet deflects raindrops. The Leviathan had various superstructures which housed ammunition or personnel. The main sail was the only black sail among the white ones surrounding it. This sail had a black circle with six spokes inside a white circle, as though the black was reaching out to consume the white. This was the symbol of the evil Island Empire.

Cannonballs big enough to choke a whale dented and cracked the _Tantive's_ hull and even changed the ship's course as it cut through the water. Cannonballs rolled on its deck. One ball fired from the Leviathan's cannons was fired over the port and stern of the smaller ship, taking a surprised man into the sea with it. Curiously enough, aside from balls being fired at the _Tantive IV's_ sails and grapeshot aimed at the crew, the cannons of the Leviathan were being restrained; they weren't being filled to capacity with gunpowder. If they had been, the _Tantive_ would no longer have been so dry. As it was, the Rebels' ship seemed much the worse for wear, but still in tact. One of the cannonballs that was fired at full speed crashed high up through one of the _Tantive's _masts. Men barely managed to get out of the way in time to avoid the mast's landing on the wooden deck which rocked the entire ship. The sail and mast blew across the ship, broke through the handrail, and were cast into the sea as soldiers and crewmen struggled to get out of the way.

Below decks, two men struggled to walk down the corridor as the ship rocked and shook from the cannonfire on the hull and the recent collapse of the mast. "Did you hear that?" said the taller of the two. The shorter grunted affirmatively. The tall one spoke again: "They've shot down the main sail! We'll be destroyed for sure. This is madness!" He spoke in a manner in which you could tell he was educated. He walked as if his legs were tied together, and looked like he could fall over every time the boat rocked. A file of uniformed Rebel troops pushed past them going the opposite direction. "We're doomed!" His yellow formal wear, though tattered and torn, retained much of its sheen. He wore gold hoops in each ear, and, like his comrade, was black. The very short person at his side responded in a strange language which consisted of a series of short, high-pitched words and whistles. "There'll be no escape for the princess this time," replied the tall man. The Imperial vessel could be seen pulling alongside their pitiful boat through a portal.

As the gap between the ships narrowed, the men aboard the _Tantive IV_ prepared to fight. The Leviathan brushed the side of the smaller ship as sharp posts sprung out from the hull of the Leviathan, puncturing and securing the starboard side of the _Tantive_ to the port side of the Leviathan. The men still on the deck of the captured vessel hoisted the remaining sails to keep the ever-present strong wind and spikes from ripping bigger holes in the ship. The order was given for all men to retreat below decks. As the men scampered into doors and hatches, the last thing they saw was dozens of ropes uncoiling and falling against the deck.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Rebel troops lined the walls of the hallway adjoined to the main entrance. Muskets trained on the door were shaking as sweat poured over every face. Facing the Empire was not a pleasant idea, especially for an inexperienced group like this one. The tension in the men's hearts grew with every thunk, every footstep, every muffled voice they heard on the other side of that door. Then suddenly, the footsteps receded. But there wasn't even enough time to finish a sigh of relief. The door exploded in a blaze of fire and black smoke, sending splinters of wood into the defenders. Men clutched broken faces, bleeding limbs. Only a few Rebels began to fire back as volley after volley from Imperial guns were sent through the doorway with tactical precision. Men clad in bulky white armor began filing through, avoiding the rubble, fire, and bodies strewn about. Every Stormtrooper carried a black rifle in his white gloves.

In the midst of the Stormtroopers, a man with a menacing, commanding air about him stepped through the still-dissipating smoke. He wore solid black over his entire body. His cloak and tall collar hid his frame and most of his head. He wore a mask of cloth and a thick triangle of metal over his mouth with grooves that gave the impression of teeth. Metal ran down over his throat. If one looked very closely, though the chance would seldom arise, one could distinguish the black slits in the mask which were the pupils of his eyes. Even the Stormtroopers instinctively moved away from this man. The few Rebels left in this area of the ship ran in sheer terror, whether or not they knew this was Darth Vader, right hand of the Emperor.

Elsewhere in the bowels of the Tantive IV, a woman quickly scrawled something on a piece of gold stationery and handed it to the short man in the white robe, who stuffed it into the case he carried with him. The woman wore her brown hair in coils on the side of her head and a simple yet elegant white dress. She was beautiful, and had an air of royalty and defiance. She was also doing a good job looking as though she was not afraid.

The tall man in yellow, See Threepio, entered the small room. "Artoo Detoo! Where _are_ you?" The young woman said one last thing to Artoo, and watched as he joined his companion. "At last! Where have you been? They're heading in this direction. What are we going to do? We'll be sent to the mines of Kessel or smashed into who knows what!" Artoo, ignoring Threepio's scolding, hurried down the hallway. "Wait a minute, where are you going?" Artoo chirped back a confident and gallant reply.

The Rebel officer in Darth Vader's grip struggled in vain to loosen the fingers around his neck. An Imperial officer standing by gave his report: "The Death Star plans are not in any of the safes." Vader kept his grip tight as he asked, "Where are those documents you intercepted? What have you done with those plans?" Vader lifted the man up. The Rebel's face grew even more pained, and his feet dangled a foot off the floor. He managed to speak. "We intercepted no documents." He gasped for breath. "This is a consular ship. We're on a diplomatic mission." Vader squeezed tighter and tighter, bones snapping, as he said, "If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador?" With that, Vader tossed the dead, limp body against the wall.

Vader turned to the officer at his side. "Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans, and bring me the  
passengers. I want them alive!" The Stormtroopers immediately split up and hustled away.

The young woman in the white dress huddled behind a open crate of weapons labeled "First aid." She was in the same room she gave the message to Artoo in, waiting, with a musket in her hand. She hardly blinked as she watched the door. Before long, the lock was shot off, and three Stormtroopers walked through cautiously, looked around, and lowered their rifles. The woman immediately leaped from her hiding spot and managed to get off three shots into the chest of one of the Stormtroopers. The first bullet embedded itself in the armor, the one that came behind it slammed it in, and the third finished the man off. She didn't have to take in her satisfaction of there being one less Imperial in the Islands. She grimaced from the pain of a gunshot to her foot. The Stormtroopers made no attempt to stop her when she toppled over. "She'll be all right. Inform Lord Vader we have a prisoner."

Artoo clambered over debris and made his way out onto the deck of the _Tantive_, Threepio doing his best to follow. The ominous shape of the Leviathan-class loomed high over them. Artoo hopped into one of the life boats, and chirped for Threepio to follow him. "Hey, you're not permitted in there. It's restricted." Artoo responded in a rude tone of voice. "Don't call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease! Now come out before someone sees you." Threepio's eyes widened at Artoo's protest. "Secret mission? What plans? What are you talking about? I'm not getting in there." Threepio nearly fell over when part of the deck they were near exploded. Flames inched closer to the duo. Threepio saw no alternative but to jump into the lifeboat. "I'm going to regret this."

A cannoneer saw a lifeboat leaving the Tantive four, headed for the close-by desert island of Tatooine. "There goes another one." He grabbed his torch and prepared to blast them away with his cannon. "Hold your fire." His commanding officer stood near. It's just a couple of workers, running away. Don't waste your ammunition."

Now far enough to be safe, Artoo and Threepio could row more slowly. Threepio looked thoughtfully at the Imperial and Rebel ship. "That's funny. The damage doesn't look as bad from out here." Artoo chirped his resply. Threepio, skeptical as always, said, "Are you sure this thing is safe?"

The young woman in the white dress was led down a corridor by a group of Stormtroopers. If the bullet wound in her foot hurt, she didn't show it. She didn't even limp as she was brought before the Dark Lord of the Sith. The woman had never seen him, but recognized him unmistakably. She had heard the stories, but was determined not to show a flicker of fear. "Darth Vader. Only you could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not sit still for this. When they hear you've attacked a diplomatic--"

"Don't act so surprised, Your Highness. You weren't on any mercy mission this time. Several documents were carried to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they brought you."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan--"

Vader pointed his finger right in the woman's defiant face. "You are a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away!" When she was dragged out of earshot, an officer voiced his opinion to Vader, a dangerous thing. "Holding her is dangerous. If word gets out it could generate sympathy for the Rebellion in the Senate."

"I have traced the Rebel spies to her. Now she is my only link to finding their secret base." The officer had noticed the young woman's spirit. "She'd die before she tells you anything." Vader responded, quite coldly, "Leave that to me. Send a distress signal and then inform the Senate that all aboard the vessel were killed." Another officer approched them and snapped to attention. "Lord Vader, the battle plans are not aboard this ship. And no Rebel personnel left the ship. A lifeboat was jettisoned during the fighting, but there were only two workers on board." Vader answered, "She must have hidden the plans with the workers. Send a detachment to retrieve them. See to it personally, Commander. There'll be no one to stop us this time."

"Yes sir!"


End file.
